A standard pitch of 201 levels, 11 classes, with mining/poaching/capturing and
finding items, if you were smart, should be enough to lure you here to the
realm of Solar Eclipse to at least try the robust combat system and areas.
What do I mean? Classes REALLY syngergize well with each other. As you
remort into a new class after leveling up to 201 you gain the new class's
abilities while retaining all your past abilities. The combos you can dream
up are truly endless.

You can expect areas that really make you think out side the box to solve
the problem. You like puzzle areas? SE has em. You like insanely hard mobs
with great rewards? SE has em. You want areas where you can just murder
everything? No problem. You like gathering different types of gear to
min/max? You got it, SE has it. Hate gathering gear? Get to 201 and mine
the best metals there are and ignore (for the most part) gear gathering.
Quest for unique and powerful pieces that attach to weapons, gain
reputation points to buy sweet quality of life items. Gain promotion
classes to further your abilities and stretch your character to the max.

Enjoy capturing monsters to fight rare and difficult bosses in the arena to gain
sweet rewards. Mine up metals to craft armor and weapons to cover gaps in
gear or stats. Pick plants to make pills to buff or heal you.

Want PvP? It's there on a voluntary basis. The player base needs to pick up to
allow for some sweet competition in PvP. Hate places where you can't speak
with the lead IMM because (s)he is too good for you? Not here. Routinely he
will respond to questions about mechanics, and even engage in discussion
about changing things that may suck, be over powered or under powered.
There's even more I could tell you about, like player shops, player housing,
marriage/divorce, but sometimes you just have to come here and see it.

TLDR: Give it a shot. Let the world capture ya and people that play it intrigue.
Also, if you come and have questions ask for me, Mordor (such a lame name,
know) and I'll be happy to assist you, and if not busy, spellup and heal ya!

Solar Eclipse (SE) is a full-featured mud that has a lot of potentials.
It boasts of 20+ races, some dozen classes, and a Remort system that allows
the player to restart at level 1 with a new race/class and keep some of the uber stat.

The world of SE is a collection of areas based on various themes and popular video
games at the time, that the implementers have managed to mash together over the
years. Some are just simple hack-n-slash, kill-rinse-repeat type of leveling up areas,
some are quite interactive (through the use of scripts) and filled with challenging puzzles,
enemies and great rewards.

After picking your race and class, the player is led through a very well written
newbie school. It really does a fantastic job ntroducing the mechanics of the
mud. After graduation from newbie school, player is then introduced to the
Adventurer's Guild, hich sends them on quests to showcase some of the features
of the mud. I will list some of them as examples:
1) mine three different types
of material to create a device to breath underwater
2) clear out pests in an abandoned mansion; this one is quite fun as some
of the pests are hidden and require some interaction with the area to get them out.
There is also a countdown of how many are left to clear as each puzzle is solved.
3) make flip-flops in a factory...this shows a feature of the mud where you can
combine items to create new ones

so on and so forth. These quests are really fun and I which there were more
interactive things like this on the mud.

There is an questing system that is for better or worse, a big part of the game. It
sends the player to various types of quests determined by chance and level. Quest
points are gained by completing these quests. It is certainly not required, since on
the whole the difficulty of the mud is quite low. Questing offers some good prizes in
the form of items called sigils. Sigils are pretty useful, they can attach to a piece
of equipment and apply stats on top of the existing stats, and quest rewards
sigils generally have some more unique features such as a weapon that changes
damage type based on the vulnerability of the mob, pretty useful.
The bad thing about questing is that it becomes too big a part of the game and it
takes away from the other parts. In fact there are a lot of players just sit at the
auto-questor waiting for the next quest to be available (it has a wait time of
10 minutes or so in between quests)

There are other fun things like mining and capture which also are really fun and will
eat up a lot of time. With mining you can ine different materials and create
equipment with various attributes based on the materials. Capture seems to be
based on the FFX idea, where a boss can be challenged upon the completion of
defeating a certain types and numbers of mobs in an area.

The classes are pretty fleshed-out; although some (in particular monk and
necromancer) are a lot more fleshed-out than others. Thief especially is extremely
under-whelming. Nonetheless the classes have unique features and are all fun to
play. The variety of the skills in combination of the Remort system makes SE
have a lot of replayability.

Races have different stat advantages, such as giant having more Strength,
naturally. Pixies have in-born fly, parthans (cats) having 50% bonus on hand-to-hand
and claws. Pretty diverse stuff, although like the classes, a few of the races aren't
that good.

Players on SE are generally friendly and some are even quite chatty. I have not
met many unhelpful players during all of my time playing on it. The current immortal
staff are really friendly (and more laid back than ever).

At one time there were a lot of clans activiiy (hence PK) going on, however, the mud
went down sometime ago and the player count has suffered a lot as a result. It can
really use a lot of players.

In closing I think SE is a mud with many good features, and has the potential to be
great with more congruent areas and more players. Either way I have really
enjoyed playing this mud.

This mud, simply put, is amazing. In my opinion there is nothing
wrong with it at all. I've tried some of the top ten muds on here,
but this one really is the best. Given it is VERY addicting, that
comes with any great game, if you're a gamer, you don't really care
anyway.

The immortals are helpful, and very friendly. I played this mud long
ago, and it was full of life, and very great to play. Then Phoenix
left and it all started going downhill very fast. The immortals that
ran the place, were all arrogant and obnoxious. I evenplayed WOW for
quite some time, who hasn't really, but this mud is my home.

When I heard that Phoenix came back I immediately found the place and
came running back. This place is just awesome, and has suffered its
ups and downs, but when it all comes down to it, even with crappy
immortals it is a great mud. Now that its starting to get back on its
feet, i'm sure this place will be the mud to beat soon.

This was the first mud I played and remained the only mud with enough
content and pvp strategy to grab me. I tried at least a dozen other
muds, trying to find one with a playerbase not so large that you
barely talk to people and not so small that there's no one ever on.

The owner Phoenix and many other builders on this mud did a fantastic
job and this mud definitely deserves more attention.

I'll never forget pecking away on this game late into the night.
This game alleviated all boredom throughout most of high school with
my high school friends who also played. Xaetrus, Sergei, Vormav,
Rossu, Vladimere, among others.

First of all, like every other mud, there are the pros and cons,
luckily I believe the pros heavily out weigh the cons.

Pro's -
1. The Imms: They are always updating and suggesting new idea's. They
actually listen to the players, and help them with any problem they
run into. Always working on something new, fixing something old, or
atleast thinking of something new. Very friendly..

2. Areas: It has a very nice selection of both original and themed
area's. Anything from the challenging Cube, to Shinra Building. A
wide selection of both, all well designed, all full of items, mobs
etc.

3. Character Selection: To many races to name and I probably couldn't
remember all the classes either. But alas, a nice selection for
whatever you want. Definite plus.

4. Character Development: There are many different skills and spells,
as well as a well designed promotion system for virtually every class.
all vary original and custom designed.

CONS
1. Addiction: I'm sure that the addictive power of the awesomeness of
this place has lost jobs and ruined relationships. It is just to good
for some people.

2. I cant think of anymore really...
CONCLUSION - Personal Opinion I started on this mud a few years back
and it's pretty much been the only one I've played frequently.
'Well, if it's the only one you've played how do you know it's so
much better?' I've TRIED playing other muds and was just bored.
Nothing original really. I have played other muds, and tried to expand
a little, but I am always drawn back to SE. So if nothing else, give
it a shot, 14bb.betterbox.net 4321

Solar Eclipse MUD is one of the most interesting MUD's I have ever
had the joy of playing. While I am still very much new to Solar
Eclipse and inexperienced as far as the more advanced features of the
MUD I have had such a wonderful time getting to know the many
wonderful and unique features of the world.

The areas are unique, there are wonderful quests built in to areas
and also a very involved questing system. The immortal staff is
wonderful. They run small quests for the mortals to enjoy. They are
always asking for input from the players on features, playability,
etc. If you find a problem and note them about it the problem seems to
be fixed almost instantaneously.

Between questing, leveling, and exploring the unique areas you can
spend some time mining different materials to forge weapons and armor
with, gathering herbs and flowers to make pills with, capturing mobs
to turn into pets, and poaching exotic animals around the realm.

The playerbase is growing steadily as more and more people find out
what a wonderful place SE is. So come to Solar Eclipse! We look
forward to seeing you!

Solar Eclipse is a mud with a great codebase that needs an influx of
players badly. The big positive of the mud is that it has many very
innovative mechanics and ideas driving it and is fun as a game on its
own accord. The big negative is that currently we are suffering from a
very small playerbase. Part of this is because the mud has undergone
somewhat frequent admin changes and as a result the code stagnated for
about a year or so. But, now that the staff has stabilized and work is
being done again on the mud, more players would be wonderful.

Let me talk a little bit about the underlying game. There are eleven
different classes: Warrior, Thief, Monk, Ranger, Paladin, Bladesinger,
Necromancer, Bard, Mage, Warlock, and Templar. Of those, currently
Warrior, Bladesinger, Thief, Ranger, Necromancer, Templar, Mage,
Paladin and Bard have promotion classes available. Be forewarned
though, the quest to promote is often quite difficult and will test
your mind as well as your typing skills. As far as I understand the
last two promos are already in the works and will be available
relatively soon. Phoenix has made a real effort to distinguish the
classes, and regardless of how many remorts you have been through, you
will still find yourself using unique skills from all of the classes
you have access to. I won't say that the classes are well balanced,
as some are vastly superior to others, but they all have their uses
and attractive skills.

The promotion classes themselves serve to further distinguish the
classes. Usually, with promotion comes access to new and powerful
spells or abilities. The abilities usually fall very close in line
with what you would expect for the class. So the promoted ranger, a
trainer, becomes more proficient in poaching body parts from his prey
and also can train captured monsters to be his pets. A promoted mage
gains the ability to cast spells as if he were much higher level than
he currently is thus letting his buffs last longer and debuffs stick
easier. They are all well thought out and serve to give your character
a sense of uniqueness that might not otherwise be there after
remorting several times.

The remort system is what really can drive you. Eventually, if you
spend enough time, you can remort an eleventh time and thus have
access to the spells and skills of every class. Character planning
goes a long way here though and you can spend alot of time planning
which path you want to take to achieve your final goal.

There are a ton of exclusive areas, and very few stock areas remain.
I'm not a snob about stock areas, I've been mudding since the early
90s and I remember when some of those stock areas were new but I do
accept the fact that the codes for muds have progressed a long way and
that those areas certainly do not take advantage of all the features
that are available now. In the areas on SE you will find no shortage
of brainburners that force you to pay close attention to descriptions
to work your way through them. On the other hand, there are plenty of
brainless pure move and kill areas that you can use to level with
little or no thought.

The other big positive about the base game on SE, is that there are
so many original mechanics available to play with. There is a very
intriguing capture system that works very similar to that found in
final fantasy X. The promotion system and the related quests can
occupy days as you fight and solve your way through the quests. New
mechanics like poaching will keep things fresh as you exhaust the
other possibilities. And this is a key point: the code is changing
quickly. Phoenix is constantly coming up with, listening to, and
implementing great new ideas for mechanics. So log on and see if you
can come up with the next great one.

As of right now, there is no PK on SE. This is mainly because of the
small player base. The code for clans is there, and if somebody wanted
to make a clan, it would be available as far as I understand from
conversations with the staff. It is limited PK in that only those who
have chosen to clan or achieved a loner flag can be involved in
fights. An active, interesting, and balanced PVP enviornment can only
come with a larger playerbase. So if that is something that drives
you, connect and bring a few friends with you. The nice thing though
is that if PK is something that totally disinterests you, it is a
feature that you are never required to participate in.

Early on in this review, I said that a big flaw with SE is the small
player base. However, I think you will find that we are generally a
friendly bunch and if you have a question, there will always be
someone willing to answer if they can. Connect and send me a tell
sometime.

Solar Eclipse is both newbie friendly and great for power fiends.
With the well thought out remort system and balanced classes/races
that have been tweaked over the years, SE has a winning formula.
There is a wide variety to choose from, but there are still the
classics for people new to this mud to choose - like Giant Warrior!

Since I started at SE, I haven't gone back to any other mud. On
occasion I head off to another mud to have a look around, but I've
always found them clumsy in comparrison to the constantly updating
Solar Eclipse. All the imms and players are Newbie friendly. Give
it two or three sessions... and kiss your social life good-bye.

The most recent revamp caused about 90% of the pbase to leave. What
the above review does not state is that there are barely any players
left on this MUD, sadly. It is as great as he says, but it is
ultimately an empty shell of its former self.

Comment posted on Tue Jan 24 01:04:43 2006 by Dekar:

Solar Eclipse took a nosedive when Phoenix left the mud in the hands
of a couple yahoos. Most of the people left because of the admins'
ability to anger most of the population at all times. Since then
Phoenix has come back, and the mud is regaining its playerbase.

I logged in to Solar Eclipse and noticed the immortals have started
working on areas again. There were six new areas openining, and new
players are coming in to the mud everyday. Although, they have a hard
time staying because of the still relatively low population. This MUD
deserves another chance because many people work hard to make it what
it is. The only flaw it ever had was because of bad management, and
that problem has been removed.